Clear plastic tubes having various profiles and sizes, such as dual in line (DIP) tubes, are commonly employed in the electronic industry for the storage, transportation or handling of semi-conductive microchips and integrated circuits. Generally the DIP tubes are formed of a polymeric material which is transparent or at least highly translucent, for example of a vinyl chloride resin, acrylic resin or similar transparent polymer material, and designed to hold a plurality of microprocessor chips of the MOS type employed in semi-conductive devices. The microprocessor chips are stored, transported and handled in such tubes, and the tubes are made transparent so as to provide for visual observaftion of the microprocessor chips stored therein.
Thus, semi-conductive devices are stored and transported in such tubes from the manufacturer to the distributor and then the ultimate user, wherein the microprocessor chips so stored and transported are employed in semi-conductive devices by opening the tube and pouring or sliding out the microprocessor chips for delivering the microprocessor chips into the desired electronic device for insertion into a circuit board. The movement of the stored integrated circuits in the tube may give rise to undesired static charges. Since microprocessor chips are subject to damage by static electricity generated during the storage, transporation or handling of the chips, it is desirable to provide a transparent plastic container, such as dual in line DIP tubes, to reduce or prevent damage by static charges to the static sensitive microprocessor chips or other electronic devices in nonconductive polymeric containers or packages.
Early control techniques for the control of static charges were developed for relatively less sensitive electronic devices and are not satisfactory for present day highly static sensitive devices. Such early techniques blended or incorporated an antistatic agent within a plastic to obtain an antistatic plastic which was not wholly effective, so that typically only electrically conductive plastics were used with such static sensitive earlier devices. Present day electronic devices are more static sensitive so that often new circuits are sensitive to even as low as about 50 volts of static charge. Thus, a simple but effective technique and method to provide highly transparent tubes with a low or zero static charge generation and with static dissipating properties is most desirable.